It's Just Another Manic Monday.....

I like Monday, really I do. I like getting back into our routine after a fun weekend of it being turned upside down, but this is the last Monday we will have here for a while and it makes me kind of sad. The kids and I are going up to West Virginia this weekend and will be staying a few weeks with the grandparents. The Daddy has a project at work all of June that will keep him burning the midnight oil and Jacob starts school in August, so I figured if we wanted to spend some time up there NOW is the time! PLUS, it gets me out of the neighborhood for most of the summer so you can't beat that!

BUT, I am a real creature of habit. I don't do change well. I like knowing what I am doing each day of the week and going up there and meshing into my mom's routine, with two children and a cat, may be hard to do. I will miss doing things my way BUT I am excited. We haven't been up north in over a year and I miss my friends. It will be nice to call them on the phone and be able to meet them on a whim just to hang out again.

Don't think you are getting rid of me so easily, though. I have a brand new laptop coming with me so I will be able to give you the WV view from time to time.


I just wanted to share the picture of my two boys on the slide together. Adam can climb onto the jungle gym, so hanging out in the hammock while they play is no longer an option. Jacob loves having him up there with him, though, even if I do freak that he will fall backward and break his tiny neck.

We have a pool party this morning. Jacob received an invitation to an end-of-the-year party hosted by one of his friends and we will be attending that this morning. YEP, the boys and me and all my closest preschool mama friends together for THREE hours. Quick....what kinds of alcohol have no smell and can give you a quick buzz, yet leave you able to drive home? I am soooo not looking forward to this. I considered skipping it, but Jacob reallllly wants to go so I decided to suck it up JUST THIS ONCE. But while we are here, let me ask your opinion on something: Attached to the invitation (a fancy one I might add) was a slip of paper giving directions AND a little note stating to be sure to bring a towel, sunscreen, and money because we are all going to pitch in and order a pizza and BYOB your drink. is that normal? Have I been shelling out dough on all my kid's parties when I should have been collecting at the door? Maybe I am the snob here, go ahead you can say it, but that just doesn't seem right to me. NOW if we were all friends and decided to get together sans invitations, I would be all for that, but to me it's like inviting someone to your wedding, yet asking them to bring some flowers, or maybe the unity candle. AH, but I digress. we are still going to the party, we are going to chip in for pizza, and I am going to have fun, DAMMIT, chasing little guy away from the water and watching big guy play with his friends. Even if it kills me.

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WARNING: There will be swearing. If that offends you, please read no further.

OK....it just about killed me. WHY did I even consider doing that? I am a glutton for punishment, I will never learn. It was the clique, their kids, me, my kids. They sat around a table in the shade while my BABY and I sat out in the blazing sun across the pool. I tried to be polite and wheel us on in there around the table, I mean, what DO you do in that situation? You appear rude and aloof if you sit away, yet you aren't invited over, do you just go for it or wait? PLEASE fill me in on this piece of etiquette because I am at a loss. We trekked over and made a little spot for us, but I turned around to get something for Jacob and when I came back someone had taken my chair so Adam and I went back to our sun spot for the duration. The kids had a good time, at first, but at the end three of the boys were just MEAN to Jacob. He would be in his ring, and they would push him to the deep end and leave him there and laugh at him while he tried hard not to cry. The point in which I left early was when two of the boys were bouncing balls off Jacob's head while he bobbed out there in the deep while I was trying to steer him to safety. I told those boys, loudly, to please refrain from the ball throwing and they laughed at me and then those kid's big, fat mamas told them, "just go on and play, boys, have a good time". So they continued to wing balls at my kid and everyone thought that was ok. In fact, one big, fat mama took pictures. What the fuck? Oh, man my blood boiled. You can mess with me, but DON'T mess with my kid! So I got in that woman's face and said:

YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU ALLOW YOUR KID TO TREAT MY SON LIKE THAT! GET UP OFF YOUR CHANEL ASS, QUIT GOSSIPING ABOUT HOW RICH YOU ARE AND GET OUT THERE AND DISCIPLINE YOUR KID BEFORE I DO IT FOR YOU!

Well, no I didn't. I wanted to say that, but I hate confrontation and I really don't want to teach my son to fight, so we packed up and left. OH, and the pizza. I didn't get one damn slice of the pizza. I put a piece on a plate and went off to keep Adam from tumbling head first into the water and when I returned someone had thrown that AND the three drinks I brought for us away. GEE, thanks bitches. You can be sure they woofed down their fair share AND I know that at least two of them didn't pay a dime. Am I the only person who goes through this? Please tell me that the rest of my life will not be like this. Only one more day....I hope I can make it.

Sunday Six

I got this from Jennifer, who got it from Kelly. Jacob answered the questions grudgingly....

1. When you see Mom or Dad on the computer, what are they doing? They are trying to help people. Yes, son, I help all those people in the blogosphere by posting beautiful pictures of you.
2. How does a telephone work? When it rings you pick it up. Unless it's the inlaws....
3. When you play a game at an arcade, what happens to the coin you use to start the game? It goes into a slot to make it work. AANNNDDD?
4. How does milk stay cold? in the freezer. He might be able to elaborate more on that if he actually drank milk
5. What makes the car move? You turn it on with the key and then the air pushes it. Is he saying I am full of hot air?
6. How does a radio work? When you press the button it starts.

Top Ten Reasons I Hate My Neighborhood

1. Cul-de-sacs provide opportunity for teenagers to make out and drink in your yard, while leaving their empties for you to pick up.
2. The barking dog, whose owners ignore him, keeps everyone awake, except said neighbors who refuse to silence it.
3. Apparently there is a clause in the homeowner's packet that states our driveway is a public parking area, we just weren't notified of that.
4. Our yard is also the neighborhood park, yet my kids aren't allowed to play.
5. We are also the neighborhood florist/greenhouse. We plant, kids pick.
6. If you like basketball, you can find a game here...after midnight on weeknights.
7. Our driveway is the local skateboard ramp...with dents in the garage door for added effect. You can also play daredevil here....go out and try to enjoy your own driveway with your own kids and hear wrath of prepubescent white trash let you know what they CAN do in your yard.
8. Why go to a concert when you can hear the latest hits here in your own backyard, after midnight of course
9. The keg party down the street at the home of the college guy whose parents bought a house for him and seven of his fraternity buddies makes me feel old and I can't drive my blooming SUV to my home for all the cars parked on both sides of the street.
10. I am tired of shooing the pitbulls from next door out of my fenced in yard.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs....

I am sure you have read, somewhere, the new hype about teaching your baby to sign before he can speak. This was a relatively new concept when Jacob was a baby, but now we have weekly classes here in town and you can find books on the subject in every store. I atttempted a few signs with Jacob, but he never picked it up and honestly, I think I gave up too soon with him. I began showing Adam signs when he was four months old, with no reaction from him at all. My family thought I was a complete kook and more than once did I catch my husband rolling his eyes behind my back when I would sign "milk" while he nursed or "more" while feeding him. When Adam was 11 months old he signed "milk" to me and started using that pretty consistently. I started learning more signs and began tivoing the show Signing Time, turning that on while I cook dinner. In the past two weeks, Adam has been signing up a storm. He now signs: please, thank you, more, milk, eat, daddy, mommy, airplane, dog, cat, bird, bath, baby, bottle, water, drink, and car. Here he is signing bird while meeting a goose at the park. I LOVE that he can do this AND his brother is picking the signs up as well. My husband no longer rolls his eyes at me and signs with them too. So, now we have jumped on the signing bandwagon, I wish I had kept it up with Jacob. Thank you Signing Time lady for teaching my baby to communicate...I can't wait to see what his next "word" will be.

Friday Finds

It's Friday, that means time for Friday Finds by Mary Ann. Be sure to let her know if you played.

I had totally intended to post about a piece of Lenox I found at an antique store for a garage sale price BUT I couldn't get a picture that you could actually see so I "found" something else.


I found this picture of Laura and Jacob under our couch in a box with a bunch of photos I need to scrapbook....eventually. I love finding these pictures. They usually tend to pop up whenever I have had a bad day and am needing some solace. It really is like she is reaching out from beyond to me and it makes me happy. This picture was taken that week in July when she drew the picture for me. Anytime we were with my sister's family, Jacob stuck close to Laura. She was, and still is, his favorite cousin. He tells me frequently that he sees Laura and she talks to him in his dreams. This picture is the best one I have. It is exactly as she was, the jewelry on the fingers, the hair behind her ears, and that forever smile on her face. I am still sad at the thought that she will remain like that forever, but I do hope that she is in a happy place...talking to my big dude in his dreams.

It's a circus around here...

Well, the table is a big hit with the wee folk in the house. It's so much bigger than the last table, I actually pushed it up against the wall creating a sun spot for Phoebe and she doesn't budge from it. Even through all the "love" she is getting from these boys, who rarely see her emerge from her darkened hole, she sticks around. I can't keep Adam off of it and Jacob already has puzzles and board games stretched out all over it AND with that we still have room to eat on it. Derick doesn't know of all that conspires at the table while he is earning our living all day. I must delete these pictures before he finds the evidence.

I baked a cake yesterday.....from scratch. I am typically the cake mix kind of cook, but I found a good recipe and decided to go for it. I took it out of the oven and out of the pan to cool on the counter and went upstairs to do some laundry and, yes, cruise my blogs. Adam was asleep on the couch and Jacob, well I guess he was drawing in front of the tv. Jacob kept asking for some of that cake and I wouldn't let him have any, so when he called up and said "I think someone took a bite out of the cake, can I have some now?" I just thought he was working it, thinking I would give in and give him some. So, I went downstairs and sure enough, someone had taken a bite out of that cake........three fourths of it was missing and crumbs were scattered as far as the eye could see and sitting on the rug with a guilty look was Ezra, my dog...NO, Derick's dog! Damn dog!! He already has the cushiest dog life in the state of Texas and he wants my cake too! For lack of a better euphemism...he is in the doghouse today! It is actually quite hysterical, he will suck up to me, give me those puppy dog eyes, but I won't be swayed. No sleeping on the couch today dog!!!

It's rigged I tell ya!

BOO!

I have to endure Katherine another week! I hope Elliott has a big future ahead of him. I have a soft spot for a boy who loves his mama that much.

Is it Hump Day already?

It's down to the wire on American Idol. Three contestants remain with one hitting the highway tonight. My TV Guide came in the mail yesterday with a big picture of Katherine obscuring the guys while practically bending over backwards to show off her tatas when I finally realized who she reminded me of.....Britney Spears, and really do we need another? My take on last nights show, if you care:

Elliott: You gotta feel for him, what with the hearing loss and bad teeth AND he has a great voice, but he is all about that Harry Connick and Michael Buble thing, which he does well, but I don't think that type of album will be marketable. I am to the point where I believe the votes don't count anyway after Chris, the good one, was sent packing, so I think ole Clive Davis will cut him tonight and that's a shame because I wonder if someone would pick him up, he probably needs to win more than the others. Whatever that song was that Paula picked for him, he did really well.
Katherine: Simon picked "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for her and I love it when he gets things right. She kicked it on that song, I even began to like her some, but the other two songs sucked, so no, I don't like her and hope she goes home tonight.
Taylor: He gave the only good, consistant performances of the night. Without Chris there to entertain the masses, it really was a boring show, but Taylor helped it out. Randy picked a Joe Cocker tune for him and he did an awesome job. He sang "Dancing in the Dark" and my little dude climbed out of the chair and danced with a bottle hanging out of his mouth for the duration. For that alone he should win.


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Our new table arrived yesterday! It's nice to have all that extra room and it actually flows with the rest of the furniture, unlike Old Table who stuck out like a sore thumb. Derick actually found a spot for it in our toy room (yes, we have a toy room, it's that bad) so OT has a new lease on life. My husband is so anal about the table. We MUST keep a table cloth on it.
I MUST go out this afternoon to buy placemats. The kids MUST not sit in the chairs (we kept two of the old chairs for them). The kids MUST not look at the table. I am sure it is only a matter of time before we are actually eating off the floor so as not to spill something on the precious table. I would have posted a picture of our table, but you can't see it for the table cloths and protective bubble, so here is the catalog pic. Nice, huh?

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We have forty bazillion things to do today. One of them is travel the 30 minute drive to the bank to take out 20 bucks because cook book toting mama CALLED me yesterday collecting money to buy gift cards for the teachers. I really, really didn't want to give them money, BUT they are all having the kids sign a card who contribute and basically, Jacob would have been the only one left out and I don't want that, plus I love his teachers, why should they suffer? The conversation was hysterical, though, very reminiscent of Mean Girls, I almost expected a third line to be open. I did get the fake compliment though, "You have such sweet boys" and "why don't we get together sometime" yet when I went to pick up my boy, she walked right past me with nary a shrug. As much as I hate it, I am going to miss it, provides for a good laugh most days.

Treasure Tuesday

It's time, again, for Treasure Tuesday brought to you by Faith. Be sure to let her know if you play today.

As you can tell these are baby booties. BLUE baby booties. They sit on Adam's dresser these days, but they originally belonged to Jacob. A lady I worked with while I was pregnant with him gave them to me. They are the first blue things I ever received for him after finding out he possessed the wrong parts. You see we were having a girl. Her name was Grace Elizabeth and we couldn't wait to meet her. We were so sure we were having a girl we almost declined the gender announcement at our 24 week ultrasound. Imagine our complete surprise when the technician pointed out as soon as she turned the machine on "It's a boy!" I remember how I ceased to hear anything for a few moments and my heart dropped to my feet. She had to be wrong..BUT there "it" was, even a technological fool such as myself could not have mistaken what that was. I am embarrassed now to even admit this, but I was devastated, not at first because I was in awe of seeing a moving, put together person inside of me and thrilled that he was healthy, but after a few days, I started to stress. I had a sister, my cousins were girls, all my friends had girls, WHAT was I going to do??? At that time I was one of eight pregnant ladies at my school. One by one they would come in and announce they were having girls and my heart would sink further. WHY was I having a boy when I so wanted a girl?

I don't think I ever let on at school that I was disappointed not having a girl, but one day, a teacher I did morning hall duty with presented me with these beautiful booties, out of the blue (no pun intended) wrapped in blue tissue paper. See, this teacher had daughters and years before knitted these booties in hopes she would have a boy to put them on. That day never came, so she gave them to me. I think, from her own experience, that she knew I needed a boost about my boy and you know, they did help me. I slowly started loving baby blue (and I still do) and I never had as much fun as having that group baby shower where I was the only one with balls and frogs and overalls. As the weeks went on, which weren't many because Jacob arrived eight weeks after that ultrasound, I warmed up to the idea of having a boy. I felt special that I was the only one in the family with one and excited that I could buy matchbox cars and Thomas engines (little did I know). I carried these booties to the hospital with me, not knowing how our premature birth would turn out. In all honesty, driving there that night I pictured burying my son in them, but he came out kicking and screaming and we kept those booties on him every night in that NICU, at least tried to....we knew he was doing well when he learned to kick them off. Once he came home, the booties were history, no keeping them on him, so they sat propped on his dresser, that has now become Adam's dresser. I love to see them there reminding me that Jacob's size 11 feet really were once too small to fit in them and they remind me of how different my life would have been if I didn't have that little bit of baby blue in them. Sadly, I cannot remember the teacher's name who gave them to me, my mom was right, I needed to write all that stuff down, but I am grateful to her for these booties. They were just what I needed.

What my son thinks of me

** Two posts in one day....and I still haven't told you about Batman yet!**


This came from Jennifer. Her's was cute, so I thought I would give it a shot. I was surprised that my budding artist would stop long enough this morning so I could "interview" him. Here is Jacob's take on Moms:

What is a Mommy? It's a thing that takes care of you. Mom's are good to you and take care of you. (apparently I am a thing, I guess I need to go over nouns with him).

What do Mommies do? They feed you breakfast, lunch, and dinner and they love trains.
(Yeah, I guess I do love trains, who would've thunk)

What do you like best about your Mommy? I like it when you buy stuff for me and we have fun. (I guess I can't complain about that...I introduced him to shopping and shoot, I love when people buy things for me too)

What do you not like about your Mommy? I don't like when you put me in time out (of course, if you wouldn't misbehave you wouldn't be there, but he never will get that)

What are things Mommies can't do? Mommies can't back out of the garage or go to Jamba Juice (I broke the side mirror off our car once and when I was pregnant and craving Jamba Juice I got cut off in traffic, slammed on my brakes and the strawberry fusion smoothies flew all over the car...there is still a faint berry smell and the mats have a slight pink tint to them. Dad has forbidden Jamba Juice.)

Happy Mother's Day

Well, I had planned to write an extremely poignant Mother's Day post about my path to motherhood and how the sight of that four pound baby changed me forever, but Mother's Day, like my birthday, turned out to be a sham of a day so I am down on Hallmark holidays...boo, hiss. Can you tell I have a raging migraine headache in the photo? Could I even raise the brush to comb my hair? I swear I wasn't out on a pre-Mother's Day bender the night before. After wrestling the two boys at church, we came home to a feast of ramen noodles and ham sandwiches because you can't get into a restaurant after church here on a regular Sunday, much less Mother's Day and, really, do I need to wait an hour and a half to sit and wolf down my meal while trying to keep my kids entertained? Our plan was to have lunch and head to the park, our usual Sunday entertainment, but the skies opened up and the rain poured and for the first time since we have lived here the electricity went out....before I had called my mother, and sister, and basically any other mother I needed to call. What about that land line or your cell phone you ask? Well, my super intelligent husband gave the old land line to the Katrina effort back in September, because yeah, they were living in the Astrodome, but that land line phone might come in handy one day and we didn't need one because in the event of a power outage we have cell phones, which is all fine IF THEY ARE CHARGED. Little cosmic joke, gotta charge them with electricity. I bet you are also wondering why I didn't dial up on my laptop to drop them an email....I tried, but turns out husband spent Saturday night making sure the thing worked and drained the battery. SOOOOO, my mom is worrying to tears about me because I call daily and the fact that I haven't called on a holiday is scaring the crap out of her and my headache continues to worsen into the night for all the scented candles we have burning. UGH...honeysuckle, watermelon, and espresso.....oh, it was bad. Our power didn't come back on until 2 am, stereo blasting, washing machine kicking, and security system honking just as my headache was finally starting to subside (after only six vicodin). The icing on the cake: I missed Grey's Anatomy!

BUT, I can't complain about the morning; it wasn't too bad. Jacob drew a map to my cards and gifts, which was actually pretty understandable (is that a word?). I knew all that Dora the Explorer would pay off. The kids got me some itunes gift cards (sweet!) and the dad actually planted a big planter full of beautiful annuals, which for him is a big gesture. He does not buy flowers or plants because they die and why spend money on something that is just going to die?

And for my poignant post about motherhood, maybe next year, but I will leave you with the end of my day, after the electricity woke us all up and my babes had climbed into bed with me, my oldest wanted to snuggle and my baby rubbed my hair and Jacob whispers to me "I love you mom, Happy Mother's Day" THEN, it was a good day.

Tagged....

I talked the Daddy into taking Jacob to this afternoon's party, so I have some time to figure out this brand spanking new laptop so I am going to make my first post on it this ABC meme from Kelly's blog.

Accent: Southern, with some yankee dialect mixed in...I say ya'll and fixin' to, but I also say soda pop and we warsh the clothes.
Bible Book that I like: The verse James 1:17 comes to mind because we put it on Adam's birth announcement. Every good and perfect gift is from above.
Chore I don't care for: Cleaning out the litter box
Dog or Cat: I have both, but I am partial to the cat, she doesn't stink as bad.
Essential Electronics: my tivo
Favorite cologne: I don't wear cologne.
gold or silver: gold
Handbag I carry most often: my blue diaper bag
Insomnia: at least twice a week
Job Title: Mom
Kids: Two boys, love em dearly
Living Arrangements: In a crappy house, in a crappy neighborhood
Most Admirable Trait: I am a good cook, is that a trait?
Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: I was a really good kid, we had to be living with my parents, they didn't tolerate misbehavior. As a teenager, though, I lied, drank, stole, and treated my parents horribly. I am soooo praying that I don't get a payback of that.
Overnight hospital stays: Just to have the kiddos
Phobias: I fear death and traffic
Quote: I don't know many, but I love "Chicken Pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie!"
Religion: I guess I am baptist
Sibling: I have a sister, I rarely see her.
Time I wake up: whenever Jacob does, which is usually around 6:30
Unusual Talent or skill: That's a hard one....did I mention I was a good cook?
Vegetable you refuse to eat: broccoli and cauliflower
Worst Habit: I swear like a drunken sailor
X-rays: The typical wrist/ankle ones of childhood, but they weren't as much fun as those ultrasounds.
Yummy stuff I cook: Jacob loves when I make enchiladas
Zoo Animal I like the most: the otters

Just reading back over that makes me realize how boring I am.....Again, I tag anyone who wants to play. I don't have a mouse hooked up to this thing and I am having a hard time highlighting so I can link.

35 Questions

I found this over at Jennifer's site....Pro played too.

1. How did you get the idea for your profile name? It's my first name and I like it.
2.What song are you playing now, or wish you were playing? 1985 by Bowling for Soup
3. Has the death of a celebrity ever made you cry? I have to agree with Jennifer, Dana Reeve's death was so sad. I cried thinking about her poor son.
4. What color underwear are you wearing now? White, they're all white
5. Do you want a baby? Yes, but I think we're done.
6. What does your dad do for a living? He's the manager of a chemical plant in WV. Please no Green Peace trolls. I didn't make him do it.
7. What does your mom do for a living? Be available to hear me complain, cry, and revel in my kid's accomplishments 24/7
8. What are your pet's names? Ezra and Phoebe...my mom has my Haley cat, she stole her from me.
9. What color are your bed sheets? white, I like white
10. What are the last three digits of your phone number? 359
11. What was the last concert you went to? Bruce Springsteen
12. Who was with you? My old high school boyfriend, our SOs didn't want to go and spend the major amount of bucks for tickets, so they stayed home with the kids.
13. What was the last film you watched? Mean Girls
14. Who do you dislike most at this moment? my neighbors, all of them
15. What food do you crave right now? a cuban panini from a restaurant down the street.
16. Did you dream last night? yes
17. What was the last tv show you watched? My Name is Earl
18. What is your favorite piece of jewelry? the mother's ring my husband bought for me on my first mother's day. It has Jacob, Ezra, and Phoebe's birthstones in it. I was touched that he would add the pets as well.
19. What is to the left of you? Phoebe the cat
20. What was the last thing you ate? a butter rum muffin from HEB
21. Who is your best friend of the opposite sex? Jeff, the old high school boyfriend
22. Who last MSNd you? I don't MSN
23. Where is your significant other right now? walking the dog with the kids
24. Do you have a crush? Yes
25. What is his name? George on Grey's Anatomy
26. When was the last time you had your hair cut? Sometime before Adam was born
27. Are you on any meds? no
28. Do you have a mental disease? I am boy crazy, I think they may lead me to mental disease eventually.
29. What shirt are you wearing? a blue dress
30. Are you sexy? No, I am more the cute, next door type
31. What's your favorite store? Kohls
32. Are you thirsty? no, but I would love an alcoholic beverage even though it is 10 am
33. Can you ever imagine yourself getting married? I sometimes imagine myself not married...is that bad?
34. Who is someone you haven't seen in a while and miss? I would be here all day with that list...all my buds in WV, my college friends, my parents, Laura.....
35. Where do you work? at home, thank goodness

Everyone is tagged, I am off to a whole day of birthday parties and don't have time to link everyone. Have a good weekend!

Friday Find

Mary Ann has started Friday Finds over at her blog, Follow Your Bliss. She is an artist and does amazing things with her finds. I think it is meant to be more crafty kinds of finds, but since I packed up most of my crafty things last weekend so that my youngest wouldn't snack on them, I came up with something a little different.


This is my cat, Phoebe. It is her birthday today, she is eleven years old. I found her in July 1995 at a pet store in Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach. I had a cat, found her at the pound, but when I moved to Virginia Beach my mom kept her until I found a place that took pets and when I went back to rescue her, she wouldn't come willingly and my mom sobbed in the driveway, so I was minus one cat. I was in the mall and walked by that pet store and they had three cages with three kittens each in them. I can never pass up an animal, so I went over for a quick look and there she was, covered in cat litter, wet from sitting in her own pee I am sure, and meowing at me like "please help me, feed me, rescue me". She was so pitiful and that pet store was a mess, I wanted to take them all home, along with all those sad puppies inside, but Phoebe reached out and smacked me on the arm and I was hooked. We have been tight ever since. Her price tag said 29.99....the best thirty bucks I have ever spent. We spent some time living just the two of us. She would play fetch with me in the evenings after work and curl up at my feet to sleep. If I went out with a guy, I brought them home to meet the cat. If they didn't like her or vice versa, I didn't see them again. Derick walked right in and went straight for her and played fetch for an hour, I always tell him it is because of her I married him. She has tolerated the changes in our lives, although I can tell she would love to have some more quiet time these days. She wasn't happy when Jacob came along although she is beginning to take up with him, maybe because he is calming down some or maybe because she is older and not as quick on her feet, I even caught her in bed with him the other day. She loves Adam and he loves her. The only "word" he ever says is "kee" She sits still while he "pets" her and even lets him pull her stub of a tail.
Phoebe lost her tail during the whole Hurricane Rita evacuation chaos. Someone, I suspect Jacob and Bryce, shut her tail in a tight door. She must have been hiding behind it as I found the tip by the hinge side...I'll wait while you all cringe.....thank goodness someone had the sense to find some liquid bandage and patch her up, but in the course of all that went on in the following two weeks, I forgot to take her to the vet when we returned home and the tail got infected and well, you can figure out the rest. Poor, poor catty. She took it in stride, though, and healed well. She is my first baby, my girl in this house full of boys, like I said, the best thirty bucks I ever spent and a real find. Happy Birthday Phoebe!

Hmmmm...should have brought that knitting

Stop reading now if you don't want to hear me complain about the luncheon.

I got there early thinking I could slink into the fellowship hall and sit inconspicuosly and wait, but no, we had to stand in a line outside the classroom and wait for the teachers to bring the children out one at a time. I said hello to some of the moms as they came in, but at best I got a nod from them, except one mom who stopped to ask me if I wanted to buy a cook book that she is selling for a fundraiser for a....wait for it....stay at home mom group they organized with all the mommies of the preschool. UH HUH....I will just pretend they think I am Jacob's nanny and not secretly wish those cookbooks would catch fire in the Houston heat. Don't ask me to join, but be sure to ask me to support your cause, that's tactful. So, Jacob comes out and he has apparently been shown where his sweet little personalized placement will be and is told to walk me to our place at the table. He goes to what he thinks is his spot and seems utterly confused. Then he gets nervous and starts dragging me around. Seems he put our placemats between a couple of his buddies way up front by the food, but when we got in there, our placemats were way in back....at the very last table....with the teachers. Yep, the Stepford Mommies rearranged all the mats so they could all sit together. You should have seen those poor kids, everything had been rehearsed and everyone could go in and sit down orderly like and it ended up being a three ring circus, kids stumbling over one another to find their spot. It would have been comical if it hadn't been so noticable that they were all trying to get away from us. The buffet line for the food was hysterical. When the director told everyone they could come up and fill the plates, it was like a stampede of cattle running from the cowboys. There was salad, cheese, fruit, and koolaid....it was no Ryans people. I finally did get in line, at the very end of course, and Jacob runs up to the same damn kid who is always so rude to him and that little brat actually rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and turned around to face the wall rather than speak to my kid. Jacob was embarrassed, poor thing. Now, tell me, if it were your kid who did that, you would AT LEAST explain to him that his behavior wasn't nice and to at least say hi, but this mama (yes, same cookbook toting mama) just grinned a silly grin at me and turned around to gossip about the botox with the other mamas. I just explained to Jacob, as loudly as I could, that some kids are just unfriendly because their parents haven't told them they shouldn't be. They didn't hear me because I am invisible, but it made me feel better. I would rather have taken her to the ground by her fake highlighted hair, but I am above that and I had a dress on. So, we get our food, they served some awesome cake, Jacob and I had fun seeing how many cherry tomatoes we could eat because, geez louise, we can't afford them here at home, and I enjoyed talking with the teachers, who doted over my little dude and let me know how smart and sweet and FRIENDLY he is to everyone at school. SO, it wasn't a lost afternoon after all AND pro-divorce dedicated a blog entry entirely to me....definitely helps a girl's self-esteem!

Early Morning Ramblings...

It's going to be a long day....

I totally missed American Idol last night because I was at a baby shower! You know I totally thought about skipping it because we tivo Lost and my dear husband REFUSED to just go upstairs and catch the last five minutes to let me know who got canned, BUT I figured it was Elliott's turn to go and it would be pretty uneventful. WOW, the internet is buzzing this morning about CHRIS getting the boot! I bet that will be the leading story on the Today show this morning. OH, are soldiers being killed in Iraq? We don't know because American Idol was on last night. I still love the Today show...it has gotten me through many a rough morning. I see Matt Lauer in my dreams and he comforts me. What WILL I do when Katie deserts me? Oh, wait....

It's early, I am getting sidetracked here..that baby shower got me all confused since I MISSED my usual Wednesday night veg/knit in front of the tube. I hate baby showers....all those people letting me know that I should get pregnant too, so I can have a girl, as if the two I have don't count. Why did I go to that thing?

Anyway.....my friend back home and I "chat" about AI each week and we both agreed yesterday that Chris was going home. They send the favorite home about this time, remember Constantine, LaToya? Chris has a contract deal probably all sewn up and this way AI can market two singers. The bad news here is that they are left with not so great singers. Katherine caves under pressure, Elliott has a nervous vibe going on, and Taylor, well, he's Taylor. Only three more weeks.....



It's the Daddy's birthday today. I tried to talk him into skipping work today and hanging out with us, but he looked at me like I had grown a second head. I always took my birthday off when I worked, I mean it's your day isn't it? Of course, maybe spending all day with two rambunctious, loud children isn't his idea of good birthday fun and they are probably taking him out for lunch anyway, so yeah, I see where we are possibly getting dissed here. Oh well, gives me more time to find a birthday gift, birthday card, and birthday cake. He gave me a laptop computer for Mother's Day so I have to find something of equal goodness, don't think that leaf blower I got really says Happy Birthday now. He ALWAYS gives me my Mother's Day gift a week early and I am beginning to wonder if it's so I will gauge his gift appropriately.

They are having a Mother's Day luncheon at Jacob's school today. I can't wait to sit down and break bread among those other lovely mommies. Would it be rude to bring my knitting so I won't have to sit there being so obviously friendless and alone? Yeah, thought so. I guess I will just have to smother my babe with love and kindness so he never leaves my side. THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN! Wish me luck!

Who's Thomas?

Well, I never thought I would see this day come, but I think Jacob has outgrown Thomas the Tank Engine. I mean, he still likes to play with his trains, THANK GOD because we have every single one they have ever sold as well as enough track to string through our entire house, but he just isn't as fanatical as he has been the past four years.

Thomas has been Jacob's obsession since my husband toted him to the Barnes and Noble when he was 16 months old. My husband thought it would be a good idea to buy him ONE train and a SMALL track that Christmas and the rest, as they say, is history. We could not go into stores without him spotting anything Thomas and begging for it. He would call his Gammy on the phone and ask for the latest video or train and a week later that request would come in the mail. He has Thomas wallpaper, a Thomas bedspread, sheets, posters, and every video ever made. I swore when I was pregnant that my kid would never own a video, I wasn't getting them hooked on that stuff hahahahahaha. Anyway, Thomas has been a daily focus of our life for four years now and I am proud of the fact that I know the names of all the trains and can quote the stories, we are used to him and it is nice. It dawned on us yesterday that Jacob hasn't watched Thomas in at least a week and the Thomas computer games are collecting dust on the desk.
We were able to go to Target without stopping in the Thomas aisle. A new video is coming out next week and I learned about it first from a website, instead of my son. We always joked that Jacob would pack his trains to take to college (WVU, of course) with him and roll our eyes and pray for the day that Thomas was a distant memory. It seems to be coming and I am sad, like I could sit down and cry sad, I cannot imagine Thomas not being front and center in my little dude's world. I could blame it all on those snotty kids at school who have told Jacob that Thomas is for babies and laugh at him when he wears his Thomas shirts (which he hasn't worn in a while), but I suspect it is because he is FIVE and his interests now include this, this, and this, I guess he doesn't have time for good old Thomas. Excuse me while I go sit and feel sorry for myself because my baby continues to grow when I so definitely am not ready for it.

Treasure Tuesday

I found this idea over at Faithful Mommy. It's a chance to post about those things that mean something special to you, yet aren't necessarily big ticket items. It's the perfect forum for a sentimental pack rat like myself.








This is a picture that Laura made for me three summers ago. It was the last time our entire family was together. Laura was well, didn't need her oxygen a whole lot, and was able to be outside and go fishing and swim and be "normal". At some point in that week, I got extremely frustrated with Jacob and my sister. At that time my sister's baby was 4 months old, Jacob was two and a terror. Teresa didn't think I was doing a good job in the discipline area so we had words (Now, her three year old is causing her major fits and she agrees she is worse than Jacob ever was so nanny, nanny, boo, boo, told ya so!) and I ended up in tears and wanting to take my boy home. Laura, who always had pen and paper, sat inside and drew me this picture, came outside and rubbed my back, and asked us not to leave because she loved Jacob and us and was having a good time. How could I say no to that? So we stayed the week, the rest of it went well, and I left my picture on a shelf at the lake and never really noticed it again.

I think I mentioned before that we evacuated up to the lake for Hurricane Rita (and ended up getting it there, but that's another story) at the same time Laura was dying in St. Louis. It was a stressful time for me, I was sure our house would be blown away, our friends were stuck in traffic in Houston for over 24 hours, my husband was working out of state, and we just kept waiting for my sister to call to give us the hourly updates. I paced a lot. As I was pacing, about an hour before Laura passed away, I found this picture tucked up on a shelf. It was like my own personal note that everything would be ok. I keep it taped to my dresser mirror so I can see it every day. It's like she is drawing that picture every day, trying to cheer me out of a bad situation like that day at the lake years ago.

Do you want to play? Be sure to link to Faithful Mommy's blog.

Pillow Fight

Here is my sweet Adam.....still asleep at 9 a.m.! Why, oh why couldn't he have been born first?? His brother gets up at 6:45 EVERY SINGLE DAY and has since he was 8 months old. I would've loved to have slept until 9 for the last five years! Of course, this sleeping baby comes with a price. Adam MUST sleep in bed with us. We spent many nights trying to deposit him in the 500 dollar crib that has never been slept in and finally decided that our sleep trumped his independent sleep skills, so he has been cozily nestled between us ever since. SO, when he was teeny, I barely slept a wink because I had tremendous fears that my unconscious husband would roll over and smother him to death, NOW, I barely sleep because this little monster spends his night trying to kick me out of the bed AND trying to steal my pillow.

I should back up here and explain about the pillow. I was never one of those people who carted a pillow around. In fact, I would scoff at you if you came in my house with your own pillow and think "It's a pillow, will it hurt you to sleep without it for one freaking night?" Then I went up to the lake once when I was pregnant with Adam and climbed into the bed with my mom to watch some tv and I ended up on her pillow. It was pure heaven. I told her how comfortable it was and pulled the pregnant card and she gave it to me....that is how good my mom is. She actually gave me the pillow from under her head to make me happy. I have slept with that pillow ever since. I refuse to use any others and I now cart that thing with me if we are going to sleep away from home, so SORRY to all you pillow-lovers for never having understood the depths you would go to for your pillow.

SO.....a few months ago, Adam decided he also liked my pillow. I would let him have a little corner and he seemed satisfied, but recently he would like me to relinquish the pillow so he has come up with head butting, eye poking, and squirmy moves in hopes that I will just scoot off and leave him to that fine pillow all his own. I tried getting him his own pillow, but he actually threw it on the floor and refused to use it. Derick tried to share his pillow, but nothing doing. He wants MY pillow and, unlike my own mother, I ain't sharing! So, we continue to play a nightly game of push and shove and now, at 9:20 he is still sleeping because he has gained the coveted prize. He does sleep so soundly on that thing and seems so comfortable. I bet if I moved it into his crib, he would sleep there all night.....BUT, that's not gonna happen. That's my pillow!

The Poop Has Hit the Fan

Why do people say "the sh*t is going to hit the fan"? I don't get that. With all the poop in my life, I really should.

***Warning*** if poop stories bother you, read no further.

Anyway.....it has been fun, FUN here the past two days. Adam is loving the whole milk, sucking it down all day long and as a result his *ahem* bodily functions have gone haywire. I was late picking Jacob up from school yesterday because when I went to put Adam in the car I smelled him, and it was bad. I didn't realize how bad until I laid (lay, lain?) him on the carpet and found his legs covered, his clothes covered, then turned around and saw it all over the floor as well. It seemed the more I cleaned, the worse it got and eventually I just went outside and hosed him off. He was not happy about that. I don't think Jacob's teachers were too happy that I was so late either, but since I was the only mama who remembered Teacher Appreciation Week and brought gifts, (Yea! Me) I think they let me off the hook.

I had a MOPS meeting this morning. I really didn't want to go, we were late getting ready, Adam was crabby, yada, yada, yada but in my exuberance upon finding friendly mamas I took on not one, but TWO responsibilities there, so I have to go EVERY time. That's hard for a lazy person like me. Anywho....We all get to talking and they are having a speaker talking about dark points in motherhood, those things that push you to the limit, like say sleep deprivation and sassy attitudes and maybe repeated viewings of this until you go absolutely batty, when I get Adam out of his stroller perch and poop pours out all over me. It's bad enough when it happens to you in your own home, but in front of 20 other women who are waiting for your reaction, that just sucks. Talk about your dark point. Of course, I didn't have extra clothes for him and I had to bum wipes off a friend because the 12 pack I had wouldn't cut it, so we had to leave early. Collective sigh here. Don't feel badly for me, aside from stinking like poop the whole way home, we were able to leave early, I had an excuse to pawn my jobs off on someone else and we had an extra hour of downtime here at home this morning. I am just hoping he can contain the rest of his surprises for the weekend so his daddy can share in the fun.

I won't even go into the dog poop issues, we would be here all day.

I' ve Been Tagged......

by Mary Ann so here goes:

5 Things in Your Fridge: a baggie full of dewberries picked by Jacob and his Grandpa, three black cherry vanilla cokes the last of my stash, a gigantic bag of bok choy that my husband bought 2 weeks ago and is apparently keeping for some sort of experiment, tons of yo baby yogurt, 1 can of Fosters beer
5 Things in Your Purse: First of all, I no longer carry a purse. I carry a diaper bag. It is a quilted baby blue bag with ADAM stitched across the front...extremely stylish. In it is: 4 diapers, a baggie full of cheerios and fruit puffs, diaper wipes, a little red car, and a pair of Bob the Builder underpants. OH, and my wallet somewhere.
5 Things in Your Closet: a cat bed usually with a cat in it, a rubbermaid tub filled with maternity clothes, hidden toys I hope I remember at Christmas, the WV and VA plates from my old car, clothes dating back to 1986.
5 Things That Are in Your Car: a stroller, my yoga mat, a grocery seat cover, 2 car seats, and 50 CDs, ranging from The Replacements to Kelly Clarkson.

Now it's your turn. I tag Jennifer , Celeste, Kelly, Shane, and anyone else who wants to play. Have a nice day!

My name is Andria.....

And I am an addict.

I am addicted to soda and my mom is my pusher.

It all started after Adam was born. I went without soda while I was pregnant, mainly because of the caffeine but the carbonation didn't help with my digestion then so it was best to go cold turkey and, really, it wasn't that bad. BUT, once the baby was out I was really craving an ice cold coke and after that first taste I was hooked. I had to switch to caffeine free for a while because of the whole breast feeding thing, but it was sooooo nice to have a can of soda whenever I wanted it! It wasn't bad at first, I would buy a six pack at the store each week and ration them out, but you know you have a problem when the cashier at the store asks if you are having a party because you have so many 12 packs in your cart. Since that day in January I have been trying to quit the soda habit. I no longer steer down that aisle and I make sure I don't carry change so vending machines won't be so tempting. I finally got to a point where I could do without and my mom came to town. She is the Queen Mother of the soda drinkers. She showed up with four 12 packs, all different, and parked them on my kitchen counter AND she drove off without the leftovers. I have fallen off the wagon, lured by black cherry vanilla coke and berries and cream dr. peppers. I haven't slept in over a week from the caffeine buzz and my blood sugar is too high. Thanks Mom.

*************************************************************************************
About my other addiction:

I didn't find American Idol all that entertaining last night, could've been the raging migraine, but they all kind of seemed bored, especially for the home stretch when they should have been giving it the final push.
Elliott: I missed his first song, but I liked the second one. He definitely has that Michael Buble thing going.
Paris: GEEZ....she sang Kiss by Prince. I listened to that in college for goodness sakes so I hate her because she made me feel so dang old AND that was a Prince song! It didn't sound good. I missed her second song, you know bathing children and what not.
Chris: AGAIN, my cousin gave me Renegade on a 45 when I was in the fourth grade...I don't need to be remined that he just left the womb that year. He did well though, I think he might win it, but would they let him make that kind of rocker CD? I don't think so.
Katherine: Her first song was horrible, the second one was entertaining. I am still on the fence about her. She seems like a nice girl, but I don't think I like her.
Taylor: Now, he was the icing on the cake. He was born the year I started second grade and he has GRAY hair. Please American Idol people, do not do year they were born night next year. I may end up in therapy as a result. I think he did a really good job with both songs and now that he has their support, he just might make it to the final two. Who do you think is going tonight?

Life at the Lake

We're back! We had a lot of fun at the lake this weekend. It rained all day Saturday, but the rest of the time it was beautiful so it wasn't a complete washout. Jacob went fishing with the guys yesterday and caught two fish! He was sooo excited, yet disappointed that he couldn't bring them home as pets. I, of course, have no pictures of it as my husband could not bring a camera onto the boat because that might distract him from the fish biting. I did, however, recreate the moment to take this shot of what I am sure it must have been like out on the water. Why didn't I just go along you ask? Aside from the fact that it was as hot as Hades, I spent most of the weekend knitting....it took me forever to figure it out and I have blisters on my fingers, but I can now say I know how to knit AND purl. All I have to show for it is this:
but I see booties and blankets in my future....after I grow my fingerprints back.


We woke up to a nice surprise on Saturday morning: pouring rain, tornado warnings, and fifth disease! I can now add illness number six to Jacob's list. They posted a sign at Jacob's school Thursday afternoon stating they were having an outbreak and I knew then we were in for it. NOW the snotty kids decide to share! He looks absolutely horrible, but seems fine. Adam is starting to look red around the eyes so I figure he's not far behind. At least it got me out of a meeting I didn't really want to attend this morning.


Yeah, he looks like a sick kid doesn't he?



At one point this weekend my dad and Jacob worked together to put wood preserver, or whatever that stinky stuff was, on the porch swing. Jacob was thrilled to be helping, especially "painting" and he did a pretty good job with it. My dad told Jacob, a few times even, "Whatever you do, don't put that brush in your mouth". You see, Jacob has a BBBAAADDD habit of putting everything he sees in his mouth. Swinging on a swing. Must put the chains in his mouth. Taking a bath. Must put the bar of soap in his mouth. Eating dinner at CiCis. Must walk around restaurant and drink out of everyone's cup. It's really a wonder he hasn't caught some horrible disease, but I digress. So the rain lets up some and my dad walks out to the end of the yard (far, far away) leaving Jacob with the can of deck stain ALONE. I, of course, was inside knitting. I was oblivious to all goings on with my children..I mean, those people raised me, I lived to tell about it. Surely they can keep my kids from killing themselves. So, Jacob comes running inside yelling, "I think I drank the poison, my mouth is all hot and my body is getting all hot!!" WHAT? So we play twenty questions. Did you chew on the brush? No. Did you drink the can of stain? No. Did you even look at the can? No. He is still sure he has been poisoned and is going to die so I start to call poison control when I spot a bar glass outside, empty. Did you drink out of Grandpa's glass, Jacob? Yes. AAHHH, he took a snort of Grandpa's scotch, it made him all warm and tingly and tasted horrible so, obviously, it must have been poison. I will remind him of this when he is trying to sneak whiskey out of the house when he is in high school.

Thursday Thoughts

YEAH! Kellie was finally voted off last night! Now they can get the actual competition going without all that distracting stupidity. What was up with the judges apologizing to Katherine? She wasn't that good. I wonder who's paying them to do that?

The grandparents have been here the past few days and the kids have loved every minute of it. I haven't had to raise my children ever since they got here. No baths, no making of dinner, no sleep rituals. I actually had free time, didn't know what to do with it, but there was free time. So this must be what life is like with a nanny......AH, to be Britney Spears for a day.

I had to go in this morning to get my handprints taken. No I didn't commit a crime, they are doing some sort of Mother's Day project at Jacob's school. We had to come in early to get it done. I have to say, as much as I have loved JACOB'S school experience and his teachers, who are absolutely divine, I have hated MY experience there. I have never been around so many pretentious and snooty women in all my life. And I belonged to a sorority for goodness sakes! The other mothers say nothing to me. If I say hello, they turn the other way. I actually had one lady push me out of the way today as I was signing Jacob in so SHE could sign in. I just stood there, dumbfounded. I have nothing to add to a conversation about weekly botox injections and facial peels, which I hear are a bargain at 125 bucks a pop! My kid wears no Tommy Hilfiger. We don't have the deluxe Rainbow playset and wouldn't have room for it if we did. BUT, I have a kid, same age as theirs who likes to play with their kids, so for that reason only WHY can't they make the effort? I would love to have some of those boys over to play this summer, but they didn't even come to his awesome birthday party, why would they come to my small house in the subpar neighborhood? It's very frustrating for me and I am glad I only have to go see those people seven more times.

Well, we are going to the lake this afternoon. The weather is supposed to be horrible, but I hope to put my temporary nannies to good use and veg out in the recliner with this, this and this. Have a great weekend!

American Idol Tuesday

Here's the lowdown on tonights performances.

Katherine: She sang a Whitney Houston tune, and not that well. I couldn't keep up with her and it was extremely pitchy. Randy was right on when he said she stood up there trying to act bigger than Whitney but couldn't pull it off. I think she was shocked that they didn't like it, it was almost hard to watch her take that.
Elliott: He can sing. That's all there is to it. They really make him up better each week, he is having that Clay Aiken transformation going on before our eyes. I am interested to see how far he goes.
Kellie: I fast forwarded through most of her performance. I just cannot take her hick routine another moment. Apparently I am not the only one. What was up with that high note? Was she trying to yodel? No, dawg, that was just not good.
Paris: I couldn't hear the song for all the head shaking. What was up with that?
Taylor: He started off rough, redeemed himself at the end, but still, he could've done better. It was too big a song for him too.
Chris: Amazing how he can put a rocker spin on every song he sings. I liked it and he looked fine in that jacket.

Tell me your thoughts......or am I the only loser tivoing this show?

Adam at 15 Months

Adam was 15 months old yesterday. How can it be that he has been here 15 months? My little baby is slipping away from me and is becoming more a little boy every day. Here are the things about Adam at 15 months:
* weighs about 18 1/4 pounds, still facing backwards in the car seat..poor dude
* He is 29 inches tall, or around there, too squiggly to get a good read.
* He is wearing 9 month clothes, finally, but can still wear his 3-6 month stuff.
* Still wearing size 2 diapers
* His hair is getting longer and it looks like it *might* be red.
* He can run. fast. away from you in large crowds. and laugh about it as he goes.
* He is sleeping through the night, although with us stretched out sideways while we cling to the side of the bed.
* He loves to be outside, this is the best way to calm him in any situation. You have to face the full out tantrums when you bring him inside though.
* He can sign: more, eat, bottle, please, daddy, mommy.
* He says no words...just a series of signs, points, and grunts. Amazingly, he is easier to understand at 15 months than Jacob who was saying about 20 words at this age.
* He no longer naps. At all.
* He can play tag with his brother and loves that
* He loves writing utensils, I suspect because brother does, he likes to "write" on things
* He has a toothbrush fetish. If you can't find yours, you can be sure he has run off with it. He likes his teeth brushed, I think he is the only kid who does.
* He climbs on everything. He knows how to push a chair to the counter and climb onto the counter and steal Easter candy. I figure it's only a matter of days before he scales the refrigerator to get to the good snacks.
* He eats all table food...in fact if the table were food he would eat it. He eats, and eats, and eats. I think he will be one of those competitive eaters you see at Nathan's hot dogs every fourth of July.
* His favorite food is bananas and he must have one at every meal. This confirms to me that he must be part monkey. He got that from his dad.
* He has a tremendous sweet tooth. If you have cake, cookies etc. you have to leave the room to eat it or he will scream a blood curdling scream until you are forced to fill his open mouth. He also gets this from his dad.
* He is the cutest, sweetest little boy. I think he gets that from his Mom. LOL

It's Sunday.....

Well, Adam and I are skipping church again. I know the congregation is starting to think Derick and I divorced and are probably trying to set him up with other women at this point. It's just too hard right now with Adam. He won't stay in the nursery at all, is in the middle of a clingy phase where only Mama will do. If I take him to the service with me I end up out in the hallway before the sermon even starts or, worse yet, outside in the Texas heat pacing back and forth the entire time. I would rather stay home and listen to Joel Osteen in my jammies while mopping the floor. I like Joel Osteen...he puts a nice spin on things, he's easy to understand, and his sermons are short.

Anyway, I need to stay home and get my house cleaned up so I have a good excuse today. My parents are coming to visit tomorrow afternoon. My dad has business meetings in Houston this week, so they are staying here a few days and then we are all heading up to the lake for the weekend. We haven't told Jacob they are coming so it will be a nice surprise for him. He hasn't seen his grandpa in a year so I know he will be so excited. He is still missing Bryce so much, I think this will be a good distraction for him. Of course, he is using his sorrow to his advantage....he pulls out the tears and lets us know when ice cream or a new rescue hero would make him feel better about Bryce moving. He's a little con man I am afraid.

I think I mentioned before that my husband was "thrifty". In actuality, he is CHEAP. Imagine my complete surprise when he pulled off on a whim into a furniture store and bought a kitchen table within ten minutes. Hallelujah! Our current table is twelve years old, falling apart, and has marker marks all over it. I don't even think the resale shop would take it and I know a garage sale isn't in it's future. Derick wants to keep it for a craft table which would be great, if we had a CRAFT ROOM, but since we barely have room to move in this house as it is, I think my old and trusty table is going to be seeing the inside of the garbage truck real soon. Of course, we still have a few weeks with Old Table as New and Shiny Table won't be coming until at least June. They reel you in and get you all psyched for new furniture, take your money and THEN tell you it isn't in the warehouse.

I leave you with this photo of Adam with my "grandparents". They were our neighbors growing up and since we lived so far from our own grandparents they kind of took us in as their own. They consider my kids to be their first great grandchildren and love them like they actually were. Today is their 60th wedding anniversary.

The Best Toy in the World

I have many fancy EXPENSIVE toys at my house. My mom and dad wanted my brother and me to have the BEST of everything but you know what? Toilet paper is where it's at! You can spin it on the roll or carry it with you for lots of fun on the run. Did you know that there are 240 sheets on one roll of toilet paper? I counted them just to be sure....nothing gets past me, no sir.




Toilet paper also makes a nice snack when your mommy is ignoring you while blogging, oops, I mean cleaning my house and preparing healthy meals for me.

The Long Goodbye

Here is Jacob and his buddy, Bryce, on his third birthday. Aren't they cute? Bryce was Jacob's first friend. His family is from WV and they moved down here about a year after we did. His dad and my husband both worked for the same company, both in WV and here in Texas. We were so alone here when my parents moved away and we were thrilled when Bryce's family moved not long afterward. Jacob was three months old, Bryce was nine months old. I went to high school with Bryce's mom and I loved so much having someone here, so far away, who knew the same people I knew and what I was talking about when I lamented the loss of ridge running and pepperoni rolls. It was like a little bit of home came with us and it was nice. We got together as often as our schedules allowed with five children between us. They rode out Hurricane Rita with us and were there for comfort when we got the news about Laura. They were the first, and only, ones to come see baby Adam at the hospital just hours after he was born. Bryce's dad got a great job opportunity in Memphis and while we are happy at what that will bring them, we are so sad they won't be right down the road anymore. We met up for one last dinner last night and choked back tears, but it was nice and we survived it. It became painfully real this afternoon when Bryce's mom and sister stopped by to drop off their new address and say good bye one more time. Jacob packed his favorite things (some train tracks, a matchbox car, his markers, some paper, and his sandals) into a bag and wanted to move with them. We had to drag him out of their car. He has been sobbing all afternoon with the tears of a child who just doesn't understand change. I am sad for him.....goodbye friends, it was fun while it lasted.

Another Milestone for Adam

Well, Adam is finally off the sauce...the boobie milk sauce that is. He just kind of gave it up, hasn't asked for it in two days and I am okay with that. I truly expected there to be some sort of ceremonial last feed or something, but I can barely remember feeding him last. I really did not think we would go 15 months, especially at the beginning when it was so painful and so hard. I am proud of myself for sticking to it, even when I wanted to throw in the towel. I enjoyed that part of Adam's babyhood, but I am ready for it to be over. If he can eat salad with a fork, he can drink milk from a cup, am I right?

Life's a Beach

One more holiday down for the year. It turned out allright, better than I had anticipated seeing as how my husband was on death's door, but let's just say I am glad there is a five day work week. At one time Derick was looking into working four days every other week. I shudder to think. We are back to normal here and I couldn't be happier. I like Monday. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband, but he definitely wouldn't make it as a stay home parent and I had just about hit my limit with his health complaints. He honestly did wonder if he caught the bird flu BUT it didn't keep him from bowling with his buddy on Saturday afternoon or helping same buddy replace a water heater all Easter afternoon.


Anyway, we did make it to the beach on Friday and it was wonderful, crowded, but wonderful. This was the first time for Adam and it was so much fun to watch him experience the two things he loves most in the world, dirt and water, in the same place. He has absolutely no fear. He would tear off for the surf and crash head first into the water, but just come up and head back for more. We got a lot of exercise chasing after him. Jacob actually went in the water! This is big for him as he is AFRAID of large bodies of water. He had a blast "riding the waves". It was a nice way to spend the day.

We had a pretty full weekend...Easter egg hunts, church services, dinner with friends Saturday AND Sunday....I am craving some down time today. I love DOING, but just being is highly underrated. I am soooo glad it's Monday.

Happy Easter!

My attempt at beautiful Easter photos...these were the best I got. No, I am not kidding.

Good Friday!

I was so excited for a three day weekend, thinking I would have all this free time to relax and sleep late. Uh, not so much. It is beginning just like every other day except now I have one more person to wait on. Adam is doing much better, thank you all for your good thoughts and wishes, but now my big baby husband has decided he has "it" and is still in bed. So much for lounging in the hammock with my library book. What WAS I thinking? I shouldn't knock the husband, but it is so funny how as soon as he finds one of the kids is sick, he is also. In January he was just SO sick, he must have caught something from Adam, yet Adam had an ear infection that wasn't contagious. It is so typical that when I told my mom yesterday that Adam was sick she asked if Derick was sick too. Now he may actually feel badly, but I am starting to think it is more stress related as in "OH Dear I have to spend three days with these kids, what will I do" rather than full out sick. So it looks like I have a full weekend ahead of me...probably not the beach and egg hunts and showers alone as I had pictured, but fetching water and taking temperatures. I leave with you with this lovely picture of me and my sister on Easter Sunday 1973...we were the same ages, almost, as Jacob and Adam. Have a great Easter all !

Thursday Thoughts

We planted a garden yesterday. An extrememly small garden, but nevertheless, a garden. We have green beans and nasturtiums. This is what Jacob chose. He wanted tomatoes but I have never been able to grow them here so he settled on the pole beans. I doubt any of it actually survives, much less bears fruit, but we had fun digging in the dirt and spraying the dog with the hose so it made for a fun afternoon.

I used to love to garden when I lived in WV. We grew mass quantities of all kinds of fruits and vegetables and all we did was throw seeds in the ground and water it every day. I cannot get anything to grow in Texas; I have tried for the past five years and still nothing survives past June. What I wouldn't give for a homegrown tomato.

Adam is sick AGAIN. He started running a fever yesterday afternoon and it was up to 104 by bedtime. I can't tell that anything is wrong with him so I guess it is just a virus. He was so miserable all night long. He and I were up from 2 until he finally conked out at 5:15. I am a zombie today and, of course, Adam won't nap so I can't either. I find it very interesting that my breast fed baby is sick typically every 8 weeks and my formula fed baby has been sick a total of five times in his five years.

Well, Bucky got the boot last night. It really was his time to go, in my opinion. I really have no preferences, still, on who I would like to see win this year. I would just like Kellie to quit the dumb hillbilly schtick. She is making us country folk look bad.

American Idol Recap

What's going on with American Idol this season? It was one thing to have them do fifties tunes and broadway tunes a couple seasons ago. I can see where they might want to feel their range and all, but QUEEN? Whose idea was that? Don't get me wrong...I LOVE Queen. I think I have all their albums (do people use the word album anymore?), but did I really need to hear the contestants totally butcher my beloved songs? It was bad enough when they allowed David Bradford to turn Crazy Little Think Called Love into a swing ballad, but really now.....QUEEN? Here is my recap for anyone who is interested.

Bucky: I don't care for Bucky, he seems like a nice guy and I would probably sit down next to him in a bar and carry on a great conversation with him, but he cannot sing...at all. I love Fat Bottomed Girls, though, and was glad someone sang it.
Ace: I don't even remember what he sang, I just remembering thinking WHAT? He is so darn cute though, I wish he could entertain me more so I would want to vote for him.
Kellie: Bohemian Rhapsody is a great song. When Ryan Seacrest announced she was singing it I almost turned the channel, but she did better than I expected. It wasn't great by any means, but it could have been so much worse coming from her. That dumb hick routine she has going on is really getting on my nerves. I come from smack dab in the middle of Hickville, West Virginia and I don't act like that. I might like her more if she would quit that.
Chris: What was up with that makeup? He certainly doesn't need any and if I were him I would steer clear of the makeup people next week. Innuendo is a good song, but he could have picked something so much better, I figured he would choose I Want It All, would have suited him better.
Katherine: I love the song she sang when Queen sings it.
Eliot: Somebody To Love is one of my favorite Queen songs, I am glad he chose it, but it wasn't his best performance. Since he was in the bottom three last week, this may be his downfall.
Taylor: I think he had too much to drink at dinner. He tried to kick the mike stand down and totally missed. At least he has a sense of humor about himself and can laugh it off. He did pretty good though. I like Taylor, he is different and entertaining but I don't think he will be the American Idol.
Paris: I don't remember what she sang either, but I remember thinking she seemed a lot older than 16, I like her cute and sweet, not dark and serious. Do they have to run the wardrobe selections by the parents? If so, I cannot believe her mom allowed her to stand up in front of the entire country dressed like she was about to bring out the whips and chains.
My favorite songs...Killer Queen and It's a Kind of Magic didn't even make it. I bet Mandisa would have done one of those.

Beware...shameless bragging below

As I have mentioned before, Jacob is into the art thing the past couple of weeks. It is actually quite interesting for me to see as I couldn't even get him to pick up a crayon/marker until a few months ago. I was beginning to worry a little when I would see pictures hanging on the walls at school of elaborate drawings next to Jacob's three second scribble masterpieces. The first thing he does when he returns from school now is get his paper and markers and get to work. He can sit at the table for hours at a time. This latest project is a letter for his friend. He wanted to write about it last night as I was preparing dinner but I did not have time to spell for him so he did it himself. It says: "Wake Up, Bill and Ben" Can you see that? I am so proud of my big boy I can hardly contain myself! He did that ALL BY HIMSELF and you (well, I) can actually read it! I can't wait to see what he does next!

The Easter Bunny......

is a big scary monster apparently. Poor, poor Adam....they don't have memories at this age do they? I have to give kudos to Jacob, though, for trying his hardest to comfort his brother. It was worth it just to see that.

You Will Have to Drag Me Kicking and Screaming....

Jacob's school calendar came in the mail this afternoon. Any normal person might find this helpful and peruse it with some interest, but I dropped it like a hot potato and had to leave the room to compose myself. Jacob's first day of kindergarten will be August 16. That is four months from now. I am not ready. How did this itty, bitty four pound baby turn into a kindergartener overnight? I seriously do not want him to go. I want time to stop and leave me in this cozy place where I can hang with my babies day in and day out. I want to lounge in our jammies all day and eat lunch under a fort in the living room. Better yet, I want to go back to that place in time where I could curl up in the recliner taking in his sweet baby scent as we napped while watching old game shows on the Game Show Network because for whatever reason, "Let's Make a Deal" would calm his soul. I long for the days when it was him and me, alone in the house watching Nick Jr. and Noggin shows and taking naps together after reading book after book, "Just one more, Mama" he would say. I want to be able to carry him in my arms again. I have always known that I would have a hard time sending my kids off to school, but I never knew it would be this hard. I remember thinking last year at this time, "Thank God I have one more year with him at home, all the things we can do! It will be many, many months before I have to face SCHOOL" And here it is. I think I have dreaded this since the moment I brought him home. He was my one and only and I loved being his mom. Of course, it wasn't all wine and roses, we cried a lot, but I felt a strange sense of calm being at home with him all day. I am so stressed thinking about him being gone EVERY DAY, I can't even imagine what that will be like. I don't want to imagine that yet. I hope I can get through these next months without dwelling on it. I hope I can take it day by day and enjoy them as we have been doing. I hope no more calendars or other school propaganda come in the mail to ruin my day. I hope I am not that mom who collapses into a wailing heap at the kindergarten door, but I am pretty sure I will be. SIGH....it's coming, I can't stop it. I think I am going to sneak into bed with my first baby and see if I can find that baby smell.

Are You Ready for the Easter Bunny?

I realize we have another week until Easter, but I wanted to share this picture of Jacob when he was just about Adam's age. It was the first and only time he has been to see the Easter Bunny. I am hoping to take them up to the dreaded mall sometime next week, but if the line is long, we aren't waiting. Do you think they have call ahead seating like Outback?

Our Easters are really low key here. We have no family to visit and aside from church we don't do much. We tried to hide eggs two years ago, but it rained and we had to bring them into the house and Jacob wasn't into it. We didn't even have Jacob last Easter. He was in WV with my parents and got to hunt eggs in the snow. My dad hid coins in the eggs and he was just interested in the money and I suspect if we do it this year, it will be the same way. He likes money. Anybody have anything special planned? Any good Easter traditions we could steal from you over here?

Back to the Drawing Board

Jacob is really into the drawing thing now. We have gone through three packages of manila paper and two packages of construction paper just this week. He has now had to resort to sidewalk chalk outside. Our driveway has become the Island of Sodor complete with train sheds, a quarry, and Sir Topham Hatt. I just pray it doesn't rain soon. Jacob would be so heartbroken, he has worked so hard on it.


I did nothing on my Motivated Moms calendar yesterday except feed pets. After our weekly pilgrimage to the library, we had a picnic lunch and drew all afternoon. I felt very slothlike, but I so enjoy hanging outside with my guys. We even went to Cici's for dinner, Jacob's pick. I hate the place, but at least I didn't have to cook or clean up afterwards.

When I dropped Jacob off at school this morning I noticed there were birthday invitations in some of the cubbies. Of course, Jacob didn't get one. This is my biggest pet peeve and I intend to go in and talk with the director one day next week. It is just unfair in my opinion.

Laura

My sister's stepdaughter passed away in September. It wasn't completely unexpected; she had been sick her whole life and her parents were told from the beginning that they could expect about 18 years with her. She almost made it to 15. In the back of your mind, you know this is the reality, but when it happens it is still a shock. Laura spent her last four months in St. Louis waiting for a lung transplant. This was our beacon of hope for her and no one thought she wouldn't get one. She was top of the list and a child at that, we took it all in stride, she would get her lungs in the summer and get back in time to start high school in the fall. Her heart ended up giving out from the strain before that transplant came. We went to Florida right after Hurricane Rita to be there for the services and to try to comfort my sister and her family. I have to say it was one of the worst things we have ever had to deal with as a family.

Jacob was really close to Laura. He always looked forward to seeing her because she was just so good to him. I did not bring him to any of the services, I felt he was too young. We played air hockey in the church's fellowship hall during the funeral and watched as they released balloons...I think that will be a better memory for him one day. We had explained to him as best we could what had happened to Laura and that she wouldn't be coming back. I don't think he really understood what we were talking about and we thought it was best not to dwell on it and just answer his questions when they came. Well, six months later the questions begin. Most of yesterday was spent talking about Laura and I think he really needed to do that. He continues to talk about her today and I think it makes him happy to do so. He still believes Laura is coming back and will argue if you say no, but he does know she is in Heaven and he thinks that is cool. I found this picture to show him, I am going to send it off so he can have a copy for his room and I am also going to place one in his baby book. I hope that he can hold on to the memories he has of her as he gets older, yet I fear they will fade away because he was so young.

Tuesday Tidbits

You know you have to succumb to the kiddy music in the car when your child goes to school singing: "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die". No more Johnny Cash in the car for me.

I crack up every time I hear Jacob say "I'm just trying to be a better person, my name is Earl"

This is my new best friend! I am going to throw out the twenty others I have and commit to this one. Well, no, I could never do that, but this stuff is GREAT!

You know sometimes I think God will just do things for you, just because. I mean, He works miracles and all, but I have to think he was working for me because when I sat down last night to watch the Grey's Anatomy episode I had tivoed, I found that the Lost episode I missed on Wednesday was rerun on Saturday and this time my TIVO got it right! SO, I was able to watch my two favorite shows back to back....pure heaven. Is anybody else watching Grey's Anatomy? I started just to see Patrick Dempsey, so hot, but I think I love George now. Something about the way he jumped in there and helped Bailey birth that baby endeared me to him forever. I heart George.

As I was making Jacob's lunch for school today he came up behind me and hugged me and said, "Thanks Mom, you are the best mom I have ever had". That was so sweet and I should have left it at that, but I had to go and tell him I was the only mom he had and he said, "No, Kristan is my mom too". Kristan is my husband's sister, he has seen her only once. This hurt my feelings that he would think a woman he has spent 3 hours with his entire existence, could equal the woman who birthed him, feeds him, and wipes his butt. I explained to him that he only has one mom...ME, but he was still confused, after talking with him about it, it turns out that he watched Kristan make a meal and to him that is what moms do so she must be his mom as well...either this or he thinks my husband's sister is his other wife and that is just downright creepy.

Why can't men sit on the toilet to do their business? I am getting really sick of having to wipe down seats and floors every time I go into the bathroom. My only complaint about living with men.

Adam is flipping through my wedding album. He loves to look at pictures of people. He stops at each one and points to me and says "Mama". I wonder what he will do when he gets to the page with Kristan on it? LOL......Have a good Tuesday!

Is It Monday already?

The weather was BEAUTIFUL this weekend! That perfect kind of weather that isn't too hot and isn't too cold, no mosquitoes yet and the Texas humidity didn't creep up to dripping YET. It won't be long before we are forced inside from the unbearable heat so we took the weekend to enjoy it. On Saturday we pulled out the wading pool and let the kids (and dog) play. It was Adam's first time and he loved it. Whatever Big Bro is doing, he wants to be doing so it was all monkey see, monkey do but it was so much fun watching them play together. I laid in the hammock with a beer listening and watching my kids play, my favorite thing to do.

We went to a park here in town yesterday and walked the trails. We came home dusty and dirty and I couldn't help but think how different my life is now that I am surrounded by males. I never thought I would end up on my hands and knees in a park digging for the perfect rock or spending way too much time pitching those hard found rocks into a creek. I never thought I would have baggies full of rocks and cool leaves. I never knew that I would enjoy hunting doodlebugs with my son. I never thought I would be teaching my child how to throw a football and the cool way to wear a baseball cap. I never thought we would have to all bathe after a daily outing. I don't even remember what it was I thought my life would be like, but I like the one that was given to me, mud, testosterone and all. This is more fun than I could have imagined...Thank God for unanswered prayers!

Saturday Snippets

I thought this was a good picture of Jacob so I wanted to share it. It is so hard to get a good one of him these days, he is in some sort of phase where he tries too hard to smile and then he ends up looking like he is constipated or about to puke. We spent the morning outside having a yard sale. We cleared out a lot of junk and just returned from the resale store where we unloaded the rest on them. We will finally be able to park both cars in the garage again! I wonder how long it will take to junk the place up again?

As my husband was setting up for the big sale, he found a gold Lexus parked in front of our home with the drivers door open and the radio playing. He didn't pay it much mind at first, but it stayed for a while so he went over and found a guy passed out drunk, hanging half out of the car. He tried to wake him to see if he was allright without a response at first, but finally the guy came to, stared at my husband, mumbled something, and passed right back out. That's the way to sell your stuff! Step right up folks, please step over the drunk dude in the way. He did finally drive away but I wonder what he was doing there and where he had been to end up like that. April Fools Indeed!